Thankfully, the deputy was able to blade himself and protect his gun hand from the blows.īut what if he couldn’t? What if his right hand or forearm was incapacitated? That kind of impact to a forearm or a hand could be crippling. You can see that the suspect, who’s considerably bigger than the deputy and in good shape, puts full force into his swings. The blows to that left forearm are strong. Are you clear on case law that dictates when you’re justified to shoot and prepared to make that decision quickly when you have to?ĭuring the attack, the deputy keeps his gun in his right hand (presumably his strong side) and uses his left arm to shield himself. A second later he beats him again with the remaining half of the stick.Īt what point was the deputy justified to fire?Īt what point should he have begun firing?Īre you prepared to fire when you need to – without hesitation – to cease the threat and potentially save your life? Today’s climate is causing officers to hesitate dangerously long when forced to make a deadly force decision. Regardless of whether you decide to back-step or you’re forced to, are you practicing that movement to decrease the odds you’ll stumble if you walk backward?įifteen seconds later, the suspect takes his first swing at the deputy and breaks the stick in half over his forearm. Backing up is a form of attempted de-escalation, but the man continued his attack.Ĭonsider the practical aspect of walking backward with your gun drawn on a human being. Why did he back up? Because he absolutely did not want to shoot the crazed attacker. That’s a long time, particularly under extreme stress. During the encounter, the deputy backs up for 20 seconds straight. Immediately after the suspect grabs the large stick – more like a staff – the deputy begins backing up with his gun drawn and pointed. With that in mind, here are some things to consider:

We can cull lessons from his experience in an effort to keep other officers safe but most importantly, we’re thankful that this brave officer is alive. He was put in a horrific situation and forced to make decisions no officer wants to make in a confusing, rapidly unfolding encounter under great stress and bodily threat. First, it’s important to make very clear we are NOT judging this deputy.

Calibre press youtube